Ideas on what a bushcraft knife should be

Good point. If you ever had to use the knife as a weapon (especially defensive), the ability to mount it at the end of a shaft makes a huge difference. My Alaska rafting beltpack kit contains an old CS Bushman and some wood screws, partly for that reason.

I also agree that a forward mounted wrist thong is more effective for regaining control of an edged implement that has come out of your hand. I've used them on hawks and larger blades. I think they are especially helpful with an implement like a hawk that has a heavily forward weight bias.

DancesWithKnives
 
A bushcraft knife that is what I want is the WHOLE reason I started making knives in the first place :D I have had MANY, there was never one that had all the features I wanted into one knife.

I have photos of some of the key features I wanted posted here.

Beyond those points, here are couple more not mentioned there:
- To me, bushcrafter means scandi grind. I have a couple of Auroras and other convex knives, but bushcraft and scandi belong together :D
- Guard: In traditional style, I did not want a guard that would inhibit sitting deeply in a sheath. However, I wanted some feature there to avoid touching the edge.
- Square spine, not only for firesteel, but for tinder scraping as well.
- 1/8" is my favorite thickness.
- A steel that would age nicely.

IMG_3194.jpg


That is all I can think about at the moment.

I realize what I came up with won't suit everyone. But it is what I wanted. :D

B
 
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To me a bushcraft knife is a certain style that sort of revolves aroun Ray Mears Woodlore style and the description Mors Kochanski gives in the Book Bushcraft.

Lots of difft knives are good for bushcraft but when somebody says "Bushcraft Knife" that sort of style comes into mind.:thumbup:
 
My prefferences

Full tang

4" to 4 1/2" of high carbon steel blade that can hold an edge well and is easily sharpened. 01 / A2
Dan Koster's 3V is sick at edge holding, but a lil difficult to sharpen. But then again since it holds it's edge so well its not a big deal, unless you plan on spending a month in the woods;)

Thickness can be 1/8 or 5/32, as long as it has a good edge.

I have always preferred convex, but I realized I haven't given a scandi enough use. Lately I have aquired a bunch of Scandi knives that I think will suit Bushcraft. I plan on really testing them out to see what I truley prefer.
Since much of Bushcraft is working with wood, I just see a bushcrafter being a Scandi, but if I feel more comfortable with a convex, thats what mine will be.

For an outdoors blade/ campknife I think convex will remain my go too grind.

Handle- Now this is the tricky one. Brian Andrews Bushcraft as well as Fiddleback's have dramatic contours that really allow you to lock up on a k knife, but do they suit everyone? From what I see, they don't. I like them just fine, but I also think a thick rounded handle with a slight palm swell like the Skookum is outstanding.

Weight- Here is another one of those personal things. I have a Helle Fjelkniv
which I think is very comfortable and has a great edge on it, but it too light and doesn't feel substantial enough. Then I have a Fallkniven H1 which feels too heavy.(might be because of the custom G10 grips) Brian Andrew's model has a really good weight and balance to it. It is easily controlled in your hand in many grips.
For me a handle about 4 1/2" is a good length.
A slight guard or no guard at all is just fine with me.

The spine of the knife should be squared and hard for striking a firesteel.
 
here is pic of the DP I've been using..I think its a great compromise between durability and Slicability:

PICT0004-1.jpg
 
Just make one as close as you can to the original loveless drop point in Carbon Steel for a decent price and I will buy it.

Handle material? Stag is nice, but I actually would not mind having one with an oil finish fancy American Walnut handle as a compliment to my .270 Win Stock.
 
Here is Cody Lundin's specs:

8-9 inch overall length.
4 inch blade.
Fixed Blade - Full Tang.
Comfortable rounded or oval handle.
High Carbon Steel
Scandi Grind.

I tend to agree with CPL punishment here. I like Mora's, Kosters Bushcrafts in Stainless or O1, and my current fav is BRKT Aurora.

TF
 
I think that for the most part there seems to be a consensus here about the basic and finer characteristics. With what you have here you can make a knife that will be a pleasure to use. The make or break attribute IMO if you want folks to want your knife will be your style. That said, do you have any drawings of what you have in mind that you'd perhaps want critiqued? More importantly, are you related to Danny Terrio of "Dance Fever" fame? :D
 
As far as thong tubes go in the knife handle, I don't prefer them except in the handles end, at the bottom, to hold a lanyard. I have had a knife with a thong tube under the forefinger location that wasn't smooth enough and when gripping the knife firmly and making a fuzz stick it dug into my hand and had a "hot" spot. I later tried to smooth out the tube but it just never felt right.

As far as blade length, I prefer it to be around a 3 1/2". This is so that I can rest the front guard area at the base of my thumb and grip the blade almost like a pencil to do fine cutting with my fingers near the blade's tip. I don't find much use for a real long blade on a bushcraft type knife that will not be used for chopping. However, I occasionally desire a longer length blade when cutting larger meats or vegatables as in a camping style knife.
 
Brian Andrews said:
I have photos of some of the key features I wanted posted here.
Click to expand...
I haven't read that whole site yet, but I definitely agree with your continuous-curve on the edge. My CS Master Hunter is a bit like that and I like it very much.

Marcelo Cantu said:
That said, do you have any drawings of what you have in mind that you'd perhaps want critiqued? More importantly, are you related to Danny Terrio of "Dance Fever" fame? :D
Click to expand...

I don't have a scanner so it's a bit of a pain to post drawings. I hope to have a prototype or two ground by the end of the week. And, NO! :mad: You have no idea how many times I was asked that as a boy... and if you call me "Cheerios" I will take you out back and whip you with a wet noodle :grumpy:

:D
 
James_Terrio said:
Thank you very kindly! I agree that a good knife should have a bit of personality to it. That just makes it more enjoyable; I intend to offer these with plenty of options, so the customer will really feel it's his or hers.

Please DO sweat the details, guys!
Click to expand...

Look at offering various patterns of 'mosaic pins' then so owners can 'semi customize their knives'. Nothing worse than having a knife that looks like everyone else's if you're buying a real user edc. I prefer wood scales on a non hard use knife; micarta on the longer than 5" blades because I know they could see some tough going in use. With micarta I prefer screws over tubes for durability easy of scale replacement if damaged.

In a 4" and under knife I have found my favorites so far to be my BRKT Mini Northstar, and the Colonial Patch. Both can work alongside a hatchet just fine, and handle most of the camp chores with comfort.:thumbup:
 
re: mosaic pins... yup, that's one of the options I had in mind, along with oiled wood/stabilized wood/micarta/G10... brass, nickel silver or SS pins/tubes... liners between the scales and blade, etc...

I hadn't thought of using corby bolts or similar to allow user mods/replacement... that's definitely worth looking into!
 
There has been a lot of good answers here. I just want to add that I love those Green Rivers like you had in you first picture. Great all around do everything knives. I always keep several of them around and make different scales for different jobs I have one that I bought about 20 years ago and used it for everything. Gotta get a couple more. Great carbon steel blades for darn little money. I don't really consider it small for wood crafting though.:)
 
Jim, the GR blade is a darn good one as you said... I just feel the tang is too small for my hand. But yeah, that could be considered one of the grand-daddy's of modern bushcraft knives.
 
And cheap too. I make the grips a bit oversize as I have big hands.:) I better order a couple more while it's on my mind.:D
 
Hey JT.

For me, I want a 4" blade, convex or scandi grind. I want it to have a spearpoint, which IMO is the best for drilling. I want the edge to come right down to the handle. No choil to get in the way of usefulness. I want the spine nice and squre for striking a firesteel. The handle should be comfortable, with no square edges, so it can be used for a long time without hurting your hand.

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My Ideal Bush knife is basically your typical Scandi. This knife would be -very- capiable of hanging out in the wilderness even by itself and doing quite a few jobs, however if this knife was paired with a decent sized axe you would have enough tools to create life in the wilderness for an extended length of time.

-3/4" wide
-4.3" blade.
-Scandinavian ground to Twelve Degrees on either side
-Around a .25" area where there is no "Edge" per say to help aid in sharpening. I.E, stops the handles from making contact with the sharpening device
-01 Toolsteel
-Straight spine with no drop
-Continuous curve of edge from the tip to the "Handle"
-Artic Curly Birch Handles (Favorite wood, makes no difference in performance though)
-Full Tang (Riveted)
-Steel Pommel (Similair to the Skookum Bush Tool).
-Small Grooves on the spine of the blade nearest the handle to aid in using a firesteel, small enough as to not interfere with a pushcut.
-Hollow handlepins that allow the user to put a lanyard in multiple places.
-Contoured handle like Fallkniven F1... but with wood.
-1/8 Of an inch Thick stock.
-NO GUARD!!!!
 
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